Ties of friendship
by Egyptian Dreamer
Summary: Yugi was attacked on his way home from his lesson. He managed to get away though with the help of a certain spirit. What happens however when he has to encounter a greater threat, something that might separates him from his other half for good?
1. Chapter 1

1. The attack

"Mom, I am leaving." Yugi said as he was ready to go. "Where are you going sweetie?" his mother asked. " To the lesson mom, you forgot it? It is six." said Yugi with a surprised look on his face."But your lesson is at six thirty. Why you are leaving so early?" asked his mother as she came out of the kitchen. "I will meet with my friends and talk for a while." "Oh, okay then." She said and kissed him lovingly in the cheek. "Oh, how stupid of me. I almost forgot." Yugi took off running to his room, took his puzzle from the nightstand and hurried back to the door. He bid his mother goodbye and left.

`Yugi?` a voice said within the puzzle.

`Yes, Yami?` he answered at his spiritual friend.

`We are going to your lesson, right?'

`Yes, but I think it would be better if you stayed inside the puzzle. I don't want you to get confused with other cultures.`

`No need to worry, Aibou. After all, I am curious to see.`

One hour later:

`So… how do you find it Yami?`

`It wasn't very difficult but it becomes boring after a while.`

`At least you can go and rest whenever you want. What can I say that I have to tolerate it for another hour? `

`I think I will listen to your advise before my head starts to hurt.`

'Ok. I will let you know when this is over.`

Finally the lesson finished and Yugi took the way home.

`Yami?`

`I am here Yugi.`

`So, did you rest, your highness?`

`Ha, ha, very funny little one.`

`You call me short?` he said with a fake hurt tone as he pouted mentally at his other.

`Not at all, partner, just kidding.` he said, but the teasing was pretty obvious in his tone.

`Yes, sure! Never mind…….. AAAAAH!` with that sound he fell over, he did not know what had just hit him.

`YUGI, what happened?` Yami asked terrified, he did not know in what condition Yugi was.

"Aah, who are you?" he asked a shade which had appeared from nowhere and then he realized that he had hit him.

"My name does not matter, you have a very beautiful item right there, in your neck." Just then Yugi realized what he was talking about. He wanted his Millennium Puzzle and that was not a good thing at all.

'I am ok Yami but the guy who hit me wants the puzzle.' "Look, there is no case to give you this item." Yugi said while he was trying to stand up.

"Oh, is that so?" and he hit him harder than last time. "AAAAAAH!" that was more painful than the other one and caused him to fall down again. 'YUGI, NO!' Yami could not let this happen, he had to protect his best friend.

A flashing from the puzzle, and Yami had changed places with Yugi. "I will tell you again, there is NO case me to give you that particular item." he said furious.

The man laughed evilly before he starting delivering punches wherever he could.

Of course that wasn't something that Yami couldn't handle.

He smirked as he returned the punches and hits back in full force.

But then something unexpected happened that caught the dark being off guard, the man pulled out a knife. Yami could not deafened him self, the only thing he could do was to avoid the hits.

But suddenly, the knife found its target. He had never felt so much pain at the same time. "AAAAAAAAH!" he fell down on the ground, screaming, he could not stand all that pain and he fainted. When he opened his eyes his blood was everywhere around him and the man was gone. He stood up with a lot of difficulty, holding his wound and then he noticed that his Millennium Puzzle was missing. Fortunately he saw the man, but he was running really fast and soon he would turn round the corner. He closed his eyes in concentration and after a moment his duel disk had appeared on his arm. "Dark Magician, come forward." he said weakly. The card was activated and the Magician appeared, "Follow that man and take my puzzle back and hurry." he could sense his energy abandoning him and he knew he could not hold for a very long. The Dark Magician attacked, before a scream echoed through the alley. The man was no longer a threat and his monster came back with the puzzle. Relief washed over him as he could sense again his friend's soul.

'Yugi, I am sorry, it is my fault we got hurt and the feeling was……'

'Yeah, I know, I felt the same too. AAAh…- look, right now we need to get to the hospital. We both know you are stronger than me, so, stay in my body and call for help.'

'And exactly how I am going to do this, mmmm…- you know, I am not in a better condition.'

'Inside the bag is my mobile phone, take it and call Joe and the others.'

'Yugi, I believe that your family has to know about it.'

'Yami, I am sure you can sense and see the blood increase and I know that I can not stay consciousness for a very long ,so, please hurry and do what I said.'

'Yeah, I know what you mean' he said and he pushed the buttons as quicker as he could.

"Hello, who is this?" Joe's voice said. "Joe, it's me.", "Yug, is that you? What happened to your voice?". "AAAh… Joe, I need help. I am on St. Ives." "Ok, I will call the others and we are coming right away, just hold on!" he said, his voice filled with worry. "AAAaaah……"was the last thing he heard before the line went dead. "Yug? YUG? YUGI! Oh, no. I have to call the others." He closed the phone before quickly dialling another number. "Tristan, it's Joe, Yugi is in trouble!" "What? What happened?!" "I don't know, but he sounded really weak. He is on St. Ives, leave now and I will meet you there. I will call Tea too!" "Right."

2. Out of danger

The three of them finally arrived on St. Ives, but they didn't know the exact location that their friend was. Suddenly then, "Look who is coming!" Tea said, as she pointed a shade coming towards them. "It is the Dark Magician Girl!" Joe said thankful. "Yeah, Yugi must have summoned her." When she approached them, she signaled them to follow her and they immediately got the point.

They were following her for a few meters when she suddenly stopped. "Oh, my God!", It was the only thing they could say because they were shocked. Right in front of them was the Dark Magician holding the very bad hurted Yugi for falling down, he hardly could stand on his feet, holding his wound, which was bleeding continuously. "Guys… thanks for coming." Yami said and fell down, his monsters disappeared and he also switched places with Yugi. Joe caught him for falling on the ground. "YUGI, NO!" "He is alright guys, just fainted." he ripped a piece of his blouse and put it on Yugi's wound in order stop the bleeding. Now the only thing they could do was to wait for the ambulance to come, they had called it on their way there. Fortunately, it arrived quiet fast, they put him on the ambulance, they got in and left for the hospital as fast as they could. When they arrived at the hospital, the doctors took Yugi in the surgery immediately. In meanwhile Joe, Tristan and Tea, informed Yugi's family, they were completely terrified. After three hours in the surgery, a doctor finally told them about the situation.

"Well, we made it and stopped the bleeding, but he had lost a lot of blood." "What?" Tea and Mrs. Muto said frightened. "No need to worry. We made some stitches and we bandaged the wound." "So, can we see him?" his grandpa asked. "At the moment he is sleeping, due to anesthesia. You will be able to see him once he wakes up." he said and went to see another patient.

At last, after one hour passed the doctor informed them that the anesthesia was over and they could see him, but not for a very long because, he needed rest. "Yugi, are you ok?" Tea asked first. "Hey, guys." "You really gave as a fright, Yug." "Yeah, I know and thanks for coming." "Don't say that again. We are your friends and will always be there for you." His mother entered the room and hugged her son. "Mom, I-I can't breath." Yugi said hardly breathing and his mother let him go. "What happened Yugi?" his grandfather asked. "Yeah, we all want to know." Joe said. After he glared at Joe he told them how were the events, or at least, half of them.

"Well, I had finished my lesson and I was returning home when a man attacked me. Err… we fought, but he had a knife, I stepped back trying to avoid the hit, but it found its target. Hmm… then my friends came because I was late to our appointment and they brought me here. That's it." he said and his friends gave him questioning looks, understanding that something was missing. He shook slightly his head meaning that he would tell them later. Just then the doctor entered the room and asked the visitors to leave, because the patient needed rest. That saved Yugi from any further questions, the truth is that he was really tired.

Two hours passed and Yugi's family seeing that their boy was sleeping deep went to bring some food and left Joe and the others alone, so they found the chance and went to see if their friend had woken up yet.

"Hey guys, I knew that you would come." Yugi said as soon as they stepped in. "Yeah, your parents went to bring some food, so start talking, we don't have much time." "Well, half of them are true. I was returning from the lesson when a man suddenly attacked me" "But why he attacked you?" Tea asked, but she knew the answer. "He said that he wanted my puzzle and when I refused he hit me, then Yami switched with me in order to protect me. They were fighting for some minutes, but then the man pulled out a knife. Yami was trying to avoid the hits, but he was tired from the fight." "Oh, my God, are you serious?" his friends asked. Yugi nodded. "What happened next?" they said impatient. "Next, the knife hit Yami. He couldn't afford the pain and he fainted, but he was conscious again after a few seconds. The man was gone but Yami saw him in the corner and he summoned the Dark Magician to help him. The Dark Magician took the puzzle back , but Yami had already lost a lot of blood. The only thing he could do was to call for help. You know what happened next." and with that he stopped. "Oh, man, the feeling should be horrible." Tristan told him. "It was more than that." Yugi said with a sadness tone at his voice. "And how is Yami?" Tea asked concerned. "I don't know, the truth is that I haven't talked to him yet because I was resting and I suppose that he was doing the same." he said before concentrating his thoughts in the mind bind.

'Yami?'

'I am here Aibou.'

'How are you feeling?'

'Very exhausted. How about you?'

' Same. The others wanted to tell them the events.'

'We both had a very bad day, we need rest.'

'Yami…' a pause, 'I-I am afraid.'

'Of what?'

'You know… the whole story. I am afraid that what happened tonight will happen again. As long as I have the Millennium Puzzle we are in great danger, we will be attacked again and the next time it might be more serious.'

'Yugi, we have no choice. It is our destiny, but whatever happens we will face it together, as a team.'

'You know… you are right and as long as you are by my side, I will keep fight and defend. Oh, and thanks for saving me.'

'Saving you?'

'Yes, if it wasn't you and your skills the hit from the knife would be deadly.'

'Aibou, I have told you before, we are team and we will always protect each other.'

'Always!' Yugi giggled.

'You know, I think that I will rest now. I am a bit tired.'

'Of course. Have nice dreams Yami.'

'You too partner.'

"He is fine guys, just a bit tired." he told them and he yawned. "So, Yami is going to rest and I suggest you do the same." Joe said as he saw that his friend was still tired. "Yeah, I feel really tired, I believe it's due to the medicines the doctor gave to me." While his friends were opening the door, Yugi's mother and grandpa came inside. "Oh dear, you are awake." his mother said and went towards the bed. "Mrs. Muto, Yugi needs sleep.", "But he just woke up." "Mom, Tea is right. I still feel tired." he said desperately. "Ok then, but, I have a question. Why did that man attack you? You didn't tell us." his mother asked. "Well… he wanted my puzzle."

"Your puzzle? All these happened because of that?" she said and pointed the item that was laying on the night stand next to her son. Yugi didn't like her reaction and he was

right. His mother took the puzzle from the bed and threw it to the floor, "NO, MOM!"

Yugi screamed.

3. Needing you

When the puzzle shattered he heard a voice in his mind screaming in agony and pain and then it was gone. "NOOO!" he screamed and ran to the pieces on the floor. "NO, YAMIII! PLEASE, ANSWER ME!" "Yugi, it's ok. You will make it again." "N-no Joe, y-you d-don't understand. I 'VE LOST HIM!!" "Wait, what do you mean?" "I mean HE IS GONE, THE PHARAOH! YAMI, PLEASE, COME BACK!!!!!" "Oh, no." "What is he talking about? And who is this Yami?" his mother questioned and looked the others. "H-how could you? IT IS YOUR FAULT HE LEFT ME!" he shouted to his mother. As soon as the words left his mouth, Dark Magician and Dark Magician Girl appeared out of nowhere and they looked _really_ angry. "Oh, no. That's not good." Then, the Dark Magician stepped forward and pointed his stuff on Yugi's mother. It glowed and she fell down, unconscious. "NO!" Solomon shouted and ran to her.

Yugi wasn't paying attention, he was sobbing and shaking badly. "Young Master, I am sorry…. but he is gone." said the Dark Magician Girl. "N-no…he c-can't be. N-no…YAMIIII!" He was feeling the same pain when that man stabbed him. No, that was different. It pained much more, it pained like fire and it was in two places, at his wound in the stomach and at his heart. It pained so much he couldn't take it anymore and he fainted. "YUUGII!!!" his friends yelled and ran towards him. Joe lifted him from the ground only to leave loud curses. "GOD, the stitches have opened! He is bleeding again!" said Joe worried and Tristan went to call a doctor. The doctor ran into the room accompanied with two nurses. "Oh, my God! How did this happen?"

One of the nurses tried to put him on the bed but the Dark Magician stepped in front of his master and attacked her. She also fell unconscious. "NO!! Dark Magician, what are you doing?" Joe yelled. "Nobody will touch him!" The Dark Magician Girl took Yugi and placed him on the bed. "WHAT?" Tristan shouted. "Are you MAD?" Joe said and stepped forward. "Joe, no!" Tea warned him. "You want to have the same fate, mortal?" Joe stopped, but he was really pissed. "Dark Magician, step aside NOW. Our friend needs help." "Nice way you are treating your friends." "What are you talking about?" Red sparks appeared from the magician's stuff. "Don't try to fool me, mortal! You let that woman shutter the puzzle, although you knew about the spirit of the pharaoh and how close they were with the Young Master! Now that he is gone, Young Master's soul is totally hurt and you didn't do anything to stop that from happening!" "We didn't see that coming! You think we want our friend to be hurt? If you don't let us attend his wound, he might die from bleeding." "No! You humans have done enough damage already. You, mortal, summon properly, me, the Dark Magician Girl and the Mystical Elf." He said in a demanding tone. "I don't think so." "If you really want to help him, then you will." he said, his voice deathly low.

Joe seemed to battle with his self, after a moment he sighed. "You promise you will help him?" "You are not in place to request anything." "But Joe, you can't do this." "We don't have a choice Tea. He won't let us approach Yugi, let alone help him, so this is the only way." "Joe is right." said Tristan and Tea nodded very reluctantly. "Let's get over with this."

Joe pulled out his duel disk and then searched through Yugi's deck and took three cards. "I summon the Dark Magician, the Dark Magician Girl and the Mystical Elf." The two magicians took solid form while the Elf showed up. "Come on, my friends. We have work to do." The magicians pointed their stuffs towards Yugi and the Mystical Elf started chatting spells. In about five minutes, Yugi's wound had healed completely. His eyelids opened slowly to reveal tired amethyst orbs. "Yug! Yug, are you alright?" Yugi looked around the room and his gaze stopped upon the broken puzzle, his eyes instantly filled with tears and he started shaking once again. "No… Y- Yami… Please, I n-need you… NOOOO!!!" The Dark Magician Girl embraced Yugi and started stroking his hair in order to comfort him as she whispered soft words to his ear, but with no success. "Yug, it's gonna be alright. We will help you." Yugi's cries and whimpers had turned into sobs as he lifted his head to look at Joe. Everyone's eyes widened the moment their friend looked at them, his eyes weren't that bright and pure amethyst they used to be anymore, they had turned into a dark crimson. 'My God! That look… it can't be.' Tea thought as she tried to shake off that thought. " Help me? You didn't help me at the proper time, now I don't want anything from YOU!" "Yugi… what are you-…?" "NO! I don't want to hear anything from you, no more excuses!" "Yug, take it easy buddy…" "No, we are not friends anymore! Magicians, ATTACK!" "Yugi, we will ALWAYS be with you! You will never be ALONE!" Yugi's eyes widened. "STOP!" The two Magicians instantly stopped, their stuffs mare inches away from the shocked teens. Yugi looked at Tea, surprised from what she had just said and she could swear that the color of his eyes had turned back to normal, but it was gone in a flash. "What… what did you just say?" A frown was placed on his face but his eyes… his eyes had a sparkle of hope in them, which didn't go unnoticed by Tea. "We will always be your friends, Yugi." She said gently. "We will never leave you alone, pal." Joe and Tristan said together. Yugi looked at their eyes, trying to find if they were lying, but the only thing he saw was sincerity. He buried his face into his hands as he tried to conceal the tears that were threatening to fall. "Leave." Yugi said with a shaking voice. "But pal…" "I said LEAVE!" Yugi shouted as he turned to look at them causing them to gasp, not from the shouting but from his eyes. His eyes had turned from that fury crimson to a darker shade of amethyst, not his natural and kind amethyst but still close to it. Yugi wasn't able to control his tears anymore as they fell freely down his cheeks.

Joe and the others had frozen, they were happy that their friend was returning back to normal but they couldn't bare seeing him like that. Joe lowered his head to the ground while leaving a deep sigh. "Come on guys, let's go." He headed towards the door, but after seeing that the others had frozen and were staring at him with wide eyes, he stopped. "He wants to be alone. We must respect that." With that, he stormed out of the room and the others followed reluctantly. "We will be outside if you need us Yugi, ok?" Tea said before she followed Tristan out of the room. Once the door closed behind them, Yugi couldn't restrain himself anymore as he started shaking and sobbing badly. The tears, by now, were running uncontrollably causing the top of his sky blue pyjamas to dampen. The three duel monsters looked at each other with worried expressions, not knowing how to help their master. "P-please… I-I want t-to s-stay alone…f-for now." The Dark Magician bowed as a single tear slid down on his face. "So let it be written, so let it be done." The Mystical Elf vanished and the Dark Magician Girl wiped her tears away before following after her, soon joined by the Dark Magician. Yugi lay back down on the bed and buried his face in the pillow as he continued sobbing silently. 'Yami… I'm sorry. You are gone and it was my entire fault. I'm so sorry… Oh, my darkness, I need you. Without you, I feel so alone... so incomplete. Light and darkness can't exist without each other and it's true, because my life has no meaning without you giving me courage and supporting me. I need you… my dark, my partner, my pharaoh. Please… Forgive me…' That was his last thought before his exhaustion took over him.


	2. Chapter 2

**4.**** The cause**

Once they were outside, Joe, Tea and Tristan waited at the hall. Tea and Tristan sat on the chairs that were there while Joe chose to lean against the wall next to them. They sat in silence for a couple of minutes, none of them finding the will to start a conversation.

Tea let out a long sigh. "You know…" she started attracting the attention of the other two. "That color… the color of his eyes." Her hands tightened in her lap, like she was reminded of something sad.

"What about it?" Tristan asked. "You guys hadn't seen him back then… that color, it was exactly like that time. Even though he had done it for the pharaoh's sake, to make him snap out of it, I can't bare to see that look in his eyes again."

Both Joe and Tristan blinked at her, confusion clearly written on their faces. "Ok, you've lost us. What are you talking about?" Joe asked for both of them. "You remember the seal of Orichalcos?" she told them quietly.

They nodded instead of answering, after all, how could they ever forget that incident? "When we got separated from you guys in the train, Weevil waited us on the train roof and dueled against the pharaoh." Joe let out a snort. "Yeah, and that dinosaur maniac dueled against me."

Tea smiled faintly. "Perhaps, but that's not all, for our part of the story." "What? You mean there is more?" Tristan said disbelievingly. "Come to think of it, you never told us what had happened to you. You see, we had to get rid of that lunatic Darzt after that."

"Well, as you know, the pharaoh battled with Weevil…-" "We already know that. Get to the point." Joe said as he took the empty seat next to Tea. The last one raised an eyebrow at him. "Eager, aren't we?" "Are you going to continue or I will have to ask Yug about it?"

Both Tea and Tristan frowned at his question. "I would love to see you try, man." Tristan told him mockingly. Joe blinked at first but a scowl appeared on his face once he remembered the situation they were in.

"Um, as I was saying…" Tea started again, wanting to change the subject. "After the duel was over, our train fell off a cliff and-" "WHAT?" Joe shouted. "You guys got hurt?" Tristan asked worriedly.

Tea shook her head. "We were fine. An old man named Ironheart and his granddaughter Chris, found us and took us in. When we told them that we were looking for a friend, he led us to a place that all the wandering souls were gathered."

"When we reached the valley, only the pharaoh was allowed to go. So, he went to the center of the valley, and after a moment, Yugi's soul was there. Right in front of the pharaoh."

"No way. You saw Yugi?" Tea turned to look at Tristan, a small smile pulling at the corner of her lips. "Can you imagine the relief that the pharaoh felt that moment?" Joe smiled too at that. "I can imagine. Yug was his closest friend after all."

"You aren't going to believe what happened next, guys." "What happened?" the other two said at the same time. "Go on. Take a wild guess." Tea urged them. "Um, they hugged each other?" Tristan suggested, earning a shake of the head from Tea. "Come on, Tea! Don't play with us."

"They fought, I mean, dueled." "They did WHAT?!" the boys yelled, jumping from their sits out of reflex. "Quiet. We are at the hospital, remember?" Tea shushed them and motioned them to sit back down.

They took a deep breath to calm themselves before they did as she said. "Ok, Tea. You better explain yourself before I go nuts." Joe said earning a snicker from Tristan. "Aren't you already?" Joe growled at him but luckily Tea managed to stop the fight that was surely about to come.

"You want to hear the rest or not? If you do, I suggest you zipped your mouths." They couldn't argue with that now, could they? So, they shut their mouths and let her continue.

"Yes, they dueled. Don't ask me what cards they used because I have no idea(in the series Tea isn't too much of an expert in Duel Monsters) but I do know two things. For start, they were playing the same cards at first and second, the pharaoh won the duel."

"Awesome. Damn, I wish I had seen _that_." "Are you serious, Joe? Can't you understand the seriousness of our situation?" Tristan shouted at him. "I know, but don't you think it would be great to see those two duel against each other instead of against another madman?"

There was a small pause for a while before Tristan finally nodded. "Well, when you put it that way…" "Wait guys, you got it totally wrong." Tea told them, only now understanding what they were talking about, earning confused blinks from them both.

"I never said they dueled for fun, you assumed that on your own." She sighed warily when she saw the still lost expressions on their faces. "Yugi used the seal of Orichalcos." She said quietly causing them to lean towards her in order to hear what she said, and then pull back with a loud yell of, "WHAT?!!!"

"You are kidding, right?" Tristan inquired. "Yugi, our Yugi, used that damn seal?" Joe said just as disbelievingly as Tristan. "I could never joke with something like this. That's what I was talking about guys. His eyes had the same color as back then."

Joe collapsed back to his seat. "My Gosh. It had to be very harsh for the pharaoh to manage an attack when he knew what would happen to Yug." " 'Without you, I am becoming evil, Yugi.' That's what the pharaoh had said." Tea explained.

At Tea's remark, something jingled inside Joe. 'Evil… Pharaoh needs Yugi and I remembered once, that Yug himself had said his worst fear is losing the pharaoh… Two halves…' Joe's eyes shot open as he had closed them while thinking and he bolted out of his chair.

"Of course! Everything is coming together now!" he exclaimed. The other two stood from their sits as well while giving him weird looks. "Don't you see? The pieces are matching perfectly." "Ok, because we clearly don't see it, why don't you start explaining what the hell you are talking about?!" Tristan yelled, which earned him a shushing sound from Tea.

"Don't you remember, guys? The pharaoh was SO much angrier since the moment he had lost Yugi and he only calmed down once our little friend was back with him again. And I could swear his eyes were a hell lot darker, even when he wasn't dueling."

"I still can't see your point there." said Tea and Tristan nodded his agreement. "There must be some kind of bomb inside them and it activates whenever they are forced to separate from each other."

"Are you totally NUTS, Joe?" Joe hit Tristan on the head with the back of his hand. "I'm talking metaphorically, you moron. I meant some kind of weird reaction." "I think I know what you mean. After all, they are two halves of the same soul, darkness and light."

"That's what I thought as well." Joe said. "That would also explain the eye color and the behavior change." Tristan added before grinning at Joe. "You know, that's the smartest thing you have ever said." "Of course it is…- HEY!" he shouted once he got the meaning of what his friend had said.

Tea rolled her eyes as the all too familiar bickering started. 'Yugi, I know I could never feel the pain you are being through, but please… hang in there.' she thought as she glanced at the door of Yugi's room.

**5. Always with you**

Inside the room, Yugi was having troubles sleeping. The nightmares were hunting him one after the other making him whimper at the angry and betrayed look that his dark side had in his dreams.

Tears rolled down his eyes as he turned from side to side. "No… I am sorry." he cried and sobbed in his sleep. All of a sudden though, the nightmares vanished and he felt that familiar warmth in the back of his mind.

'Don't cry, Aibou. I will always be with you.' Yugi's eyes shot open and he jumped upright from the bed, looking frantically around the room. "Yami?" he asked hopefully but got no response and even the presence was now gone from his mind.

Burning tears gathered in those amethyst orbs and he collapsed defeated on the bed. "I am so desperate, my other. I want you back, but I have no idea how to do that."

He hugged his knees close to his chest and buried his face in his arms as he sobbed silently. A couple of minutes passed before he finally lifted his head slowly, to gaze at the shattered pieces of his treasure.

Hesitantly, he took the piece with the Sennen Eye on the front, and held it tenderly in his hand. "I've failed you along with the spirit that lives within you."

Memories of the first time he put the puzzle together, as well as all the time he had spent with his dark, came back to him and his grip on the golden piece tightened unconsciously.

"I don't know if this is going to work, but what I know, is that it's the only thing I _can_ do." he said resolutely and carefully, he placed all the pieces of the puzzle on the bed. "It took me eight whole years to solve it, but I need to have faith."

He took two pieces that matched and put them together. "I need to have faith…" Two more went into place. "Faith in myself…" One more that fitted. "And in my purpose as the pharaoh's light." Another one went in.

"I have to see him again." Tears gathered in his eyes, but he didn't stop to wipe them away. He didn't stop them as they fell freely upon his half completed puzzle. "I need to know that he doesn't hate me."

_Click_

"I must know if he is alright." _Click _"I thought that the danger would be coming from the outside, but instead, I was betrayed from the inside and that's even worst." _Click___

"I just want to… no, I need to… I just have to be with him."

_Click _

Hot tears accompanied every peace of the puzzle now. All of the boy's sorrow and desperation were poured in those tears before they were trapped inside the Millennium Puzzle as the remaining pieces were slowly coming into place with small clicks.

About half an hour later, Yugi was left staring at his now complete upside down, golden pyramid. "I … I d-did it. I managed to put it together at last." However, the more he stared at it, the deeper he frowned when he realized that something was amiss.

His eyes widened with disbelief and he started shaking the puzzle. "No! I completed you! Why won't you give me back my other?!" Tears started falling once again from his eyes and his actions slowly came to a halt as he froze.

"It… d-didn't w-work." The puzzle fell from his hands and landed on the bed sheets with a soft 'thump'. Yugi just stared into space, his mind trying to comprehend what happened.

"It didn't work." he repeated again with a defeated tone. "But, how is this possible? I was so positive it would work but in the end I …" a sob escaped his lips and he covered his mouth with his hand to prevent himself from screaming.

"No, no, no, no, no… please…" With shaky hands he lifted slowly the Millennium Puzzle from its laying spot. "Please… don't do this to me. I want my dark back. I beg you… just give Yami back to me."

He couldn't hold it back anymore. A painful scream was ripped from his throat as tears burned his cheeks on their way down. Sobbing and crying, he hugged his treasure close to his chest, the last memory of what had been connecting him with Yami.

Seized in sorrow and agony as he was, he didn't notice the small beam of light that emitted from the Sennen eye, nor did he notice the golden Sennen eye that appeared on his forehead.

With each passing second the light from the puzzle strengthened more and more, making it impossible now not to acknowledge it. The puzzle fell from the boy's hands as he had to seal his eyes and not be blinded by the light.

On the wall behind Yugi, a black shadow with star shaped hair appeared. All too soon, a Sennen eye was added on the shadow's forehead to match perfectly those bright golden eyes that stared at Yugi's form on the bed.

As if on cue, Yugi removed his hands from his eyes and turned around as he felt he was being watched. The moment amethyst met golden, something skipped inside Yugi.

Hesitantly, he held out his hand in front of him, the palm turned towards the shadow. A few seconds later, the shadow outstretched its own hand and connected the palm with Yugi's.

A soft, warm smile, pulled at the corners of Yugi's lips and he closed his eyes, the shadow soon following. Both eyes on the beings foreheads glowed, along with the Millennium Puzzle on the bed.

All three lights covered the whole room. When it finally disappeared, the black shadow was no longer black. It had taken color. Pale skin and tri-colored hair identical with Yugi's, except for three additional yellow streaks that shot up.

They opened their eyes but this time amethyst met crimson, not golden. Yugi smiled widely for the first time since forever. His double returned the smile and intertwined their fingers together.

"Yami." Yugi whispered gratefully. "Yugi." Yami replied in his deep, alluring, baritone voice. "Yami!" Yugi cried out and buried himself in Yami's arms, who returned the embrace full heartedly.

"Oh, my Aibou." said Yami, tightening his hold when he felt Yugi's tears dampening his shirt. "I missed you so much, Yami. I felt like I was gonna die without you." Yami petted the boy's hair to soothe him.

"I know. I felt the same when I was ripped from your soul." "I'm so sorry, Yami. My mother took the puzzle and…" "I know." said Yami, his hold tightening around Yugi making him look up questioningly.

"You do realize that if it was someone else, they would already be to the further corner of the Shadow Realm for tearing us apart, right?" Yugi could feel the anger through their newly formed mind link. "I know."

A knock on the door interrupted them however and Yami went back into the puzzle that was now hanging around Yugi's neck, safe and secure in its old chain. Yugi smiled when he felt the familiar presence of Yami's soul curling around his own existence, holding him close and not letting go ever again.

"Come on in." A little hesitantly, the door opened and Joe, Tea and Tristan stepped in. "Are you ok, Yug? We heard ya scream and we got worried." Tea and Tristan nodded to show their agreement.

With an excited squeak, Yugi ran over to Joe and embraced him tightly, completely surprising the other. Before any of them could utter a word, Yugi broke the embrace to show them his accomplish. "Look guys, I did it. I completed my puzzle." he said enthusiastically, his face bright with happiness.

At first, they just stared at him and the thing on the chain but after a moment their minds registered what he had said and they smiled widely. "Good for you, pal!" "We knew you could do it Yugi!"

Yugi's eyes suddenly saddened a little. "Um… I'm sorry for talking the way I did to you guys. I was very scared and worried and I couldn't-" "Don't worry about it, Yug. You are happy again and that's what matters." "Yeah, we have already forgotten about that." added Tristan. "So, I assume that the pharaoh is back too?" Yugi nodded at Tea's question. "Of course. Why else do you think I am happy?"

Tea laughed lightly at this. "Okay then, damp question." "Yug?" Yugi turned to look at his blonde friend. "Yeah Joe?" "How did the pharaoh take the whole situation?" he said, a little uncertain if he should be asking such sensitive things.

Yugi rubbed the back of his head with a nervous laugh. "Well, you know, pretty much like me. It wasn't an easy thing after all, for both of us." Joe nodded in understanding. "Hold on. What about your mother and your grandfather? And the doctors?" Tea asked worried.

"Yeah. They saw the Duel Monsters coming to life just like that. I am sure this might cause a problem." said Tristan with the same worry as Tea.

'Aibou?'

'Yes Yami?'

'I have already taken care of that. I erased all of their memories about that incident or any other incident that involves around your staying here.'

Yugi, understanding what he meant, smiled lightly.

'Thank you.'

He felt Yami nuzzling his neck and he sighed blissfully.

"Yug? You alright? Don't space out like that, man." Yugi blinked before shaking his head. "Sorry, guys. Yami just told me that he erased their memories. I guess there is nothing to worry about anymore."

The other three let out a sigh of relief. "Seems like everything is back to normal then." said Tea. "Come on. Let's go find a doctor and get our little buddy out of here!" Joe said with an enthusiastic tone and stormed out of the room.

"Joe!" "Wait up, pal!" Tea and Tristan shouted and quickly followed after their friend. Yugi shook his head with a giggle. "Yup, those three will never change."

'You heard that, Yami? We finally get to go home.'

'It was about time.'

'Yami?'

'Yes, Aibou?'

'Welcome back.'

**THE END **

**It's finally over. Sorry for taking me so long to update. Well, I hope you liked it.**


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